Columbia River Fish Monitoring and Evaluation Studies

Project ID: W912HZ-13-2-0001

Federal Agency: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Partner Institution: Oregon State University

Fiscal Year: 2013

Initial Funding: $818,881

Total Funding: $4,687,813

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

Principal Investigator: Schreck, Carl

Agreement Technical Representative: Whitaker, Sherry

Abstract: The goal of this project is to continue assessing the potential to use rearing and husbandry techniques to reproduce juvenile Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, and steelhead, O. mykiss, from hatchery stocks that more closely emulate naturally-reared fish.These wild fish surrogates will serve as proxy for wild fish for specific research studies when use of naturally-reared fish is not feasible. This project will also provide an opportunity to understand the factors that drive the expression of early life history phenotypes, essential information necessary to achieve recovery goals for these species. This project is not intended to reform conventional hatchery protocols nor to replace wild or naturally-reared Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon and steelhead.
Benjamin Smithhart, USACE.